The present invention is glass run seals and more particularly to an improved wear resistance of sliding glass, and eliminating the need to coat the glass contact area of the rubber/elastomer in automotive weather seals.
In particular, a mirror sail seal, located on an automotive vehicle, has a small amount of glass contact area with high seal force which results in rapid wear when the glass slides up and down. This glass contact area is of such a geometrical shape that there is great difficulty in being able to access the glass contact area for the purpose of applying a proper low friction coating. Also, the operation to apply the coating is by hand application only and this makes the low friction coating application have great variations in primer application and coating thickness, and also is very expensive. Therefore, premature failure of the coating is common, and quality problems result with the OEM and the manufacturer.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,345,718, and 5,461,830 disclose belowbelt glass runs or guide members of a molded plastic construction that eliminate the need for a separate underlying support member. The guide members have a low friction, non-abrasive surface for engaging interior and exterior surfaces of the automotive window.
It is also known to use a plastic wear-strip that is placed in the base of an extruded seal for the purpose of edge of glass wear that are referred to in the industry as poly-wear strips. The poly-wear strips are applied to an extrusion as opposed to the insert being applied on a molded piece. Also, and even more significant, the necessity for coating low-friction slip-coating or flock-coating on the sealing lips of the prior art poly-wear strip is still required. Thus, the ability to eliminate the requirement for, and processing steps associated with, applying a low-friction slip coating or flock coating to an insertable wear strip, particularly on a molded component, would be an improvement over the prior art.
Thus, a need for an improved solution exists and this invention relates to solving these problems and others in a simple, economical manner.